weekend & tahoe

went to tahoe this weekend. it's always a relative pleasure because no matter what, at the end of the day, we get to come home this this:



it's the nice thing about knowing people who ski in the winter... who don't really use their ski houses in the summer. not that i've used this ski house a lot, mind you, but it's very, very nice when i get to (especially when most of my friends end up camping when they're out in tahoe... ha! camping! so savage! ;)

anyway, since i went to new orleans, my right arm has been messed up. i think it's like carpal tunnel or something similar to that because the pain goes from my elbow to my shoulder. so, basically, i haven't been able to really climb like i've wanted to. what can i say... i'm getting old. :(

so yah, this weekend was spent mostly spotting m. which was fine because it was his birthday weekend.

oh, i completely forgot. i blogged because i wanted to write about the blue jay. when we got to the house, some of the windows and doors were open, which was strange. i got straight to business and went into the bathroom, and i heard m call from the main room, "there's a blue jay in here!"

when i made it out to the main room with its high ceilings, i could see the bird perched on one of the support beams. "how are we going to get it out of here?" m shugged. he said he'd opened more windows and put bread on the ground to lure it out.

the problem with the blue jay being so high was that there was a perfectly clean window up there that could not open. so, of course, the inevitable.... the bird flew into the window. we heard a loud thump and he flew back and perched on the beam again. about 20 minutes later, the bird tried it again. this time, he was less successful (in terms of staying unharmed). he actually hit the window, bounced off, cleared the couch beneath him and landed about 1/3 of the way into the room, on the rug.

m right away went to the kitchen sink to grab the rubber gloves (he's had experience with dead animals before... i'll tell you about the dog and the rabbit later), while i decided now would be a good time to freak out.

anyway, long story short, m picked up the bird, set it upright outside. the poor guy couldn't close his mouth or fold in his right wing. eventually, he did so, but all he could do was sit there. we watched him for a few hours, but when we left and came back from dinner, the bird was gone. :( very sad...

so that's the most memorable part of m's bday weekend. nice, huh? :p

absence

i haven't blogged for a while. but i will after this weekend. (i'm going to tahoe... hooray!) so hopefully i'll be back with some stories to tell and some pictures to show. :) have a good weekend!

welcomes back...

it's nice... i haven't blogged for a while, but i received a couple of welcome back emails. :)

in particular, i'd like to share one part from dardy's (hope you don't mind, d!):
i heard from adam that your husband can do a ton of pullups.

strange how these rumors get started.

but it's true, i suppose. m doesn't like to brag, so i have to do it for him. he has these enormous biceps. and he doesn't even lift weights or train. he just climbs. sometimes. i should take a picture of his biceps. they're crazy... like pop-eye.

i wish i had an enormous something that was comparable. i mean, i have a pretty decent sized butt and my hips are of baby-bearing proportions... and my thighs are fairly thunderous. but nobody would ever say, "i hear your new wife can squat thrust like no other!" i'm sure one would get a punch in the face for that one.

hmm... guess it gives me something to work on at the gym. :)

injuries...

i haven't been blogging for a while for two reasons:
1. i've been too busy on facebook.
2. i've got an injured right arm.

so, as it turns out, volunteering has a price. i went with m's dad (mr. b) and some friends to new orleans a month ago to rebuild, and after three days of sanding and mudding (what fun!), my right arm started to get sore. i skipped working thursday (and interviewed some katrina survivors) and went back to work on friday before i left on saturday.

mr. b did a similar thing, except on thursday, he switched to flooring. thursday night his back hurt so bad that he couldn't sit through all of dinner. i told him maybe he should consider taking a break on friday, and he said, "why would i do that?" (he's old school hard core... no messin' around kind of guy.)

so here i am a month later, and i can't climb because my arm feels numb and sometimes tingly when i do.

and mr. b got back surgery a week ago because his back was so jacked up.

now don't get me wrong; i'd totally go back to new orleans again (i'm thinking february may be a better time... less sweating), but i'm definitely going to ask to be put on different projects each day to hopefully minimize injuries.

/shakes out right arm

then again, maybe it's an injury from too much time on the internet (stupid facebook!). :p

bush reclaims powers after colonoscopy...

surprising that dick didn't do more damage during his two hours...

where i've been...

i suppose i owe people an apology and an explanation. a couple of years ago i started being flaky with the blogging, then switched servers a couple of times, and then just disappeared.

i'd been going through some rough times, lots of drama. but not the fun kind of drama; not the kind that i can air online. i'd get into a lot of trouble for that. so i felt stressed out. so i just stopped.

but over the last couple of years (i'm not sure how long it's been), i began a lead teaching position at a school in san francisco (teaching fourth grade, which i love) and got married. but i'm pretty sure most other things are the same. still a climber. oh, i guess i bought a bike (as in bicycle) recently, and i've been trying to be more environmental (i even sold my car... the poor little, sad acura integra was getting old, on all of its 190,000 miles). oh, but the hubs and i bought a honda fit together (which, if i could ever love a car, i love this one).

but yes, most other things are the same.

oh! i had a niece when i stopped blogging, and now i have a nephew too! he's cute as a button.



he's bigger than that now and he's got more hair, but still just as cute. :)

a little sad how little one's own life can change over two years. but i'm happy with the progress i've made.

thank goodness...

i don't think you can even imagine how thankful i am to be back in san francisco. last night we were supposed to take a flight from newark to chicago, and from chicago to sf. but the first leg was delayed and we'd miss our second leg. so we had to fly to la, stay in la overnight, and then come back to sf. and of all the cities i've been in recently (new orleans, ny and la), sf is definitely my favorite.

to be honest, i think the bakeries in sf are better than in ny. (of course, it's all about the food... and not just any food, but the sweets are the most important.) tartine bakery, all our bread places (acme, semifreddi), and even just our mediocre cake places (just desserts, sweet inspiration) are better than i'd say most of the places i tried in ny. i'm sure others would disagree with me, but that's mho. (new orleans takes the cake in terms of fried foods, including beignet, but i can only handle so much fried food... the 8 days of it i had were more than i could handle.)

anyway, i just wanted to say thank goodness i'm back in my bike-friendly, cake-making, fresh-organic-veggie-producing, not-too-crowded, super-vegan/vegetarian-friendly, just-right-weather-all-year-round hometown of san francisco. :)